Building on the success of the QNAP TS-x69 series is the new TS-x79 range, which features two new models. Leading the charge for QNAP are the TS-879 Pro and TS-1079 Pro high-end small and medium business desktop NAS solutions. These new eight and ten bay models are powered by an Intel Core i3 processor and support 10GbE networking for maximum performance...

Without question the QNAP TS-879 Pro is a beast when configured with the right hardware. Loaded with hard drives, in our case Western Digital RE4 Enterprise drives, the TS-879 Pro is as fast as any NAS device we have tested before it using a Gigabit Ethernet connection. However drop in a 10GbE network card and the TS-879 Pro is a totally different animal.

Today we are looking at the Kingston DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 64GB, which is the company’s fastest USB flash drive to date. By utilizing an eight-channel architecture Kingston claims that this new drive can achieved transfer rates of up to 225MB/s read and 135MB/s write, while capacities will range from 64GB through to 256GB...

Devices such as the Patriot Supersonic and the Supersonic Magnum have been at the top of the food chain for some time. So does the new DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 do anything to change this? Starting at $125 for the 64GB model it is already more expensive than the Supersonic Magnum which costs just $100 for the 64GB model.

Today we are taking a look at an OCZ brand SSD that uses a controller developed by the same manufacturer that powered the original Vertex series. Once again OCZ and Indilinx are working closely together, this time to create what is known as the Octane series. Boasting capacities up to 1TB, this new series is also SATA 6Gb/s compatible...

Getting back to the issue of performance, the Octane series does deliver, just not as well under all circumstances. When running our file copy tests we were blown away by the performance, which was consistently higher than competing SandForce drives. The real-world performance seemed to have its ups and downs, with the Octane 512GB providing strong Windows 7 boot time performance but average game level load times.

Today we are revisiting the Crucial m4 Solid-State Disk using the latest firmware, to see how it compares to the competition in terms of value and performance. This time we have the premium 512GB model on hand, so we are keen to see how half a terabyte of m4 handles itself...

Today the Crucial m4 is even better as firmware updates have fine-tuned the performance, allowing it to better compete with the speedy SF-2281 drives. The 512GB version of the m4 that we reviewed was exceptionally fast, providing rapid Windows 7 boot times and lightning fast multitasking performance.

Today we are checking out how the new Patriot Pyro SE drives perform when placing two of them in a RAID array. The Pyro SE is the latest SSD range from Patriot and it is their answer to the Vertex 3 as well as numerous other SandForce SF-2281 based SSDs...

In fact it was the file copy tests that really benefited from the use of RAID, as we found the Patriot Pyro SE 120GB drives were over 40% faster than a 240GB SandForce SF-2281 drive. In all three of our copy tests the Pyro SE 120GB RAID0 configuration delivered over 200MB/s and this kind of performance certainly helps justify the $410 investment.

Today we are checking out a new product from ADATA called S511, which is their latest SSD series. Based on a latest generation controller from SandForce, the S511 is the successor to the S599 series and as such promises to deliver blistering fast performance using the 6Gb/s SATA 3.0 interface...

The real-world performance of the S511 240GB was impressive as the drive performed well in both our file copy and application tests. The only weakness found was when running the CrystalDiskMark random 4K-QD32 test, where the read performance was considerably lower than the OCZ Vertex 3 240GB and Kingston HyperX 240GB drives.

Today we are checking out the QNAP TS-219P II and TS-119P II, which are designed to provide corporate workgroups or small office/home office users with budget-friendly network attached storage (NAS) solutions for efficient data backup and convenient file sharing...

Given the price and performance of the TS-119P II and TS-219P II models, we have found that they bridge the gap in QNAP’s current lineup very well. Although the TS-119P II is now the most expensive single bay device QNAP offers, it is also by far their most powerful. When compared to its predecessor, the TS-119P+, users can enjoy improved performance and an upgraded design for a small price premium.

Today we are checking out a few new portable USB 3.0 hard drives made by Silicon Power, called the Diamond D10 and Stream S20. These 2.5” portable drives come in a range of capacities and we will be taking a look at the 750GB models which are designed to provide plenty of mobile storage without breaking the bank...

Both the Silicon Power Stream S20 and Diamond D10 performed very well throughout the testing phase, as did the previously reviewed Stream S10. Still, if we were basing our choice on performance alone we would pick the Stream S20 for its superior read and write performance when handling large files, while it also blitzed the other drives in our game upload test.

Today we are checking out the Synology DiskStation DS712+, which is powered by an Intel Atom D425 dual-core processor and features a 1GB memory buffer. These hardware specifications should make the DS712+ quite snappy and the ability to support Link Aggregation should help maximize performance of the dual bay NAS device...

Overall we are impressed with the build quality, design, performance and features of the Synology DS712+. Meanwhile the DX510 expansion unit is an excellent way to increase storage without sacrificing performance. Combined, the two offer a highly flexible solution to growing businesses or professionals that cannot afford to cough up $800+ right off the bat for the larger devices.

Today we are checking out an SSD designed specifically for power users and multimedia designers in mind. The RevoDrive 3 X2 which has been developed by OCZ is said to be the ultimate storage solution for intensive workstation applications with maximum performance. Utilizing the PCI Express 2.0 interface the RevoDrive 3 X2 boasts read/write performance of 1.5 - 1.2GB/s...

The OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 480GB is an interesting product that delivers strong performance, though not nearly as strong as we had hoped to see. For example, in our file copy tests the RevoDrive 3 X2 delivered the strongest performance of any product tested. However at best it was just 80% faster than a single Vertex 3 SSD, delivering less than 2x the performance.

Today we are checking out the Patriot Javelin S4, a 4-bay NAS device capable of supporting up to 12TB of storage along with many other noteworthy features. Aimed at home users, this budget orientated desktop NAS device is designed to deliver affordable features and performance...

In terms of value, the Javelin S4 is not just wallet-friendly, but it performs quite well. Until now, we've found cheap NAS solutions to be painfully slow and clumsy. For the most part the Javelin S4 is faster than a USB 2.0 hard drive and supports multiple clients simultaneously very well.

Today we are checking out a new flash drive from Patriot featuring a massive 128GB storage capacity. Known as the SuperSonic Magnum, this new flash drive utilizes eight channel technology in conjunction with USB 3.0 for fast read/write performance. Despite being somewhat pricey, we found it hard to go by the huge storage capacity which was just so convenient in a thumb size drive...

The Patriot Supersonic Magnum 128GB is the best example of a compact high-speed large-capacity storage device that we have seen. The ability to read data at 200MB/s is incredible for a thumb drive, while the 120MB/s write performance is also very impressive.

Today we are checking out the QNAP TS-659 Pro II, a 6-bay NAS device capable of supporting up to 18TB of storage along with many other noteworthy features such as USB 3.0 support. Aimed at business class users, this first class desktop NAS device is designed to deliver the very best features and performance...

The QNAP TS-659 Pro II is a well-rounded high-performance NAS device that is well suited for business use. As far as features go the TS-659 Pro II has them all, and at $1350 US it should. The TS-659 Pro II is certainly one of the most expensive 6-bay NAS devices we have come across.

Today we are checking out a new product from Patriot called Wildfire, which is their latest SSD series. Based on a latest generation controller from SandForce, the Wildfire is the successor to the Inferno series and as such promises to deliver blistering fast performance using the 6Gb/s SATA 3.0 interface...

The Patriot Wildfire 240GB certainly is an attractive alternative, as it uses the same NAND flash memory as the MAX IOPS version of the Vertex 3. However despite this it did appear to be slightly lacking in terms of performance when compared to the standard Vertex 3 drive.

Today we are checking out a new product made by Silicon Power called the Stream S10 which is a portable 2.5” hard drive. However what makes the Stream S10 a little special is its USB 3.0 support coupled with the massive 750GB storage capacity...

Overall we are pleased with the performance and price of the Silicon Power Stream S10 750GB and we also believe it to be a pretty cool looking product. Although there is nothing sedate about the orange or green color choices, we still feel they will appeal to most.

Today we are checking out the Synology DiskStation DS1511+, which is powered by an Intel Atom D525 dual-core processor and features a 1GB memory buffer. These hardware specifications should make the DS1511+ quite snappy and the ability to support Link Aggregation should help maximize performance.

Given that the Synology DiskStation DS1511+ is essentially a more powerful version of the recently reviewed DS411+ we expected good things and that is exactly what we got. As anticipated, the DS1511+ is a great quality NAS device that we can highly recommend to anyone looking at a five bay NAS device, with the possibility to expand up to ten more bays.

Today we are checking out a new Patriot SSD (Solid-State Drive) that goes by the name Torqx 2. This new product is designed to provide users with a cost effective SSD using a Phison controller. Already the Patriot Torqx 2 is one of the cheapest SSDs money can buy and we are going to find out if you should pull the trigger on this new product...

There was never the expectation that the Patriot Torqx 2 128GB might blow our socks off, with claimed read/write performance of just 270–230MB/s that was just not going to happen. At best we were hoping for a mid-range product and at $225 US for the 128GB version this is how the Torqx 2 is priced.

Today we are checking out the Synology DiskStation DS411+, which is powered by an Intel Atom D510 processor and features a 1GB memory buffer. While these hardware specifications should make the DS411+ quite snappy, we are also keen to check out the latest revision of the Synology Disk Manager 3.1 software...

The Synology DS411+ is one of the most powerful Atom based NAS devices we have come across, the Intel Atom D510 seems perfectly suited for this kind of use. Given the specifications, the DS411+ performed as anticipated and proved to be a great quality product that we can highly recommend to anyone looking at a four bay NAS device for the home or small office.

Today we have the 64GB version of the Kingston HyperX Max 3.0 for review which is essentially a portable SSD that uses the USB 3.0 interface for maximum performance. This pocket size drive not only stores large volumes of data but it can also move it every quickly making for potentially the ultimate external storage solution...

Our experience with the Kingston HyperX Max 3.0 64GB tells us that this is a very well made product featuring a high-quality SSD inside, perhaps the best of any external SSD we know of. Although quite pricey at $190 US, we feel given what is out there this price isn’t bad. After all, the OCZ Enyo 64GB is still fetching $180 US, and although it should provide similar performance we prefer the design of the HyperX Max 3.0.

NAS (Network Attached Storage) drives are becoming increasingly popular and they do cost a pretty penny, for those that can afford them they are worth every last bit! Today’s review is focused on the 2-bay DS211 which proved to be much more than just network attached storage, it’s more of a storage server with a great deal of flexibility built in...

Although the Disk Station DS211 is far from the cheapest 2-bay NAS device you will come across, it’s certainly one of the best in terms of performance. For those that only require 4 – 6GB’s of storage and want something that will provide reasonably high transfer speeds, the DS211 is very reasonable at $300 US ($530 US with 2TB of storage).

Today we are checking out a new flash drive from Patriot featuring a massive 64GB storage capacity. Known as the SuperSonic, this new flash drive utilizes quad-channel technology in conjunction with USB 3.0 for fast read/write performance. Despite being somewhat pricey, we found it hard to go by the huge storage capacity which was just so convenient in a thumb size drive...

Apart from the price, which we really hope will deflate quite quickly, the Patriot Supersonic 64GB is a fantastic product, likely one of the best quality USB 3.0 thumb drives available at this point in time. It's compact, durable, light weight, sleek and it's backed by a 5-year warranty which should pretty much cover the lifetime of the product.

Kingston has recently refreshed their SSD lineup with two new series, which includes the SSDNow V+ 100 and SSDNow V 100 ranges. Today we have the 256GB models from each range and will be comparing them to a number of mid-range and high-end SSDs...

Given the performance difference between the Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 and SSDNow V 100 we cannot justify the 19% rise in cost per gigabyte. Looking back at our file copy test the SSDNow V+ 100 was as at best 19% faster than the SSDNow V 100, while we found the margin was more realistically around 5%. However when measuring real-world performance there was virtually no difference in performance between these two drives.

Today we are looking at two affordable Solid-State Drives from memory maker Corsair, which are built using the infamous SandForce SF-1200 and Indilinx Barefoot controllers. Known as the Force 60GB and Nova 64GB, these drives are priced well under $150 US and provide a reasonable amount of storage given their price tags...

Picking between these two SSDs is difficult based on the performance data, we could really go either way. In terms of pricing there is even less separating these SSDs, with the Force 60GB costing just 4% more at $125 US. However the cost per gigabyte is 11% greater as the Nova 64GB provides almost 7% more storage, making it the better value option of the two.

Today we are taking a look at the Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2 128GB solid-state drive which offers a reasonable amount of storage space at an affordable price. However as I found when playing around with the smaller 64GB version recently, these cheaper V Series models are not to be scoffed at...

The Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV425-S2 series is all about value, though having said that they do not fare too badly in terms of performance either. Although we did find some weaknesses when running synthetic benchmark applications such as random small writes, we were not able to replicate this in real-world scenarios.

Today we are finally getting to check out the Crucial RealSSD C300 based on a new Marvell controller which brings SATA 6Gb/s support and some seriously impressive performance. For this review we are checking out the biggest most expensive model with the 256GB drive, and we plan to find out how it compares to leading SandForce based SSDs...

If it is performance you want then the Crucial RealSSD C300 series is not going to disappoint, as it has demonstrated blistering fast transfer rates and excellent real world performance. Never before have we seen a single 2.5” drive deliver the kind of results we saw from the RealSSD C300 256GB in our file copy tests. Something that became very clear early on was the fact that unlike the SandForce controller, the Marvell controller is able to handle compressed data in the same manor that it does uncompressed data.